PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - March 14

March 14 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Bowing to the competition online, Encyclopaedia Britannica’s publisher said the 2010 edition, a 32-volume set that weighs in at 129 pounds, would be the last.

* On Tuesday, the central bank said that 15 of the 19 largest financial firms had enough capital to withstand a severe recession. The results, announced two days ahead of schedule, paved the way for JPMorgan Chase and other banks to bolster dividends and buy back shares.

* The Federal Reserve on Tuesday offered a slightly more upbeat account of the American economy, but added that it planned to continue its efforts to improve growth.

But, the Federal Reserve acknowledged that rising oil prices would result in a temporary increase in inflation.

* If there was ever any doubt about the political salience of China in an election year, it was erased Tuesday, when President Obama stepped before cameras in the White House Rose Garden to announce a procedural move in a long-running trade dispute with China over rare earth metals.

* Rebekah Brooks, the former chief executive of News International, was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of obstruction of justice, according to a person with knowledge of the arrest.

* Las Vegas Sands, the casino operator controlled by the billionaire Sheldon Adelson and his family, is facing a new, $375 million lawsuit over how the company won a lucrative gambling license in Macau.

* European Union finance ministers agreed Tuesday for the first time to punish one of their members for flouting the bloc’s budget rules, deciding to suspend payment to Hungary of nearly 500 million euros in development money next year unless it makes progress on reducing its deficit.

* The White House has not yet announced its nominee to lead the 67-year-old World Bank, whose president, Robert Zoellick, will step down when his term is over at the end of June. But administration officials said this week that they would pick an American by the March 23 deadline for nominees.